Another Undertale
by FluffPuffCat
Summary: Frisk has reset their adventure countless times, unable to move on from the best adventure of their life. But on one particular reset, they wake up in a version of the underground that they do not recognize. In this underground, they meet another human named Chara, who is harsh and distant. Something about Chara draws Frisk towards them.
1. No Old Friends

Frisk was thirteen years old, but they felt like they had lived much longer than that. If they summed up all the time that was erased every time they reset, they guessed that years would have passed. Each time they reset, they were the only person that remembered what had happened in the previous timelines. It felt strange to have this power. Because of this power, they were omniscient. Because they were omniscient, they always felt so lonely.

It was hard to move on from happy things. The one thing that this power did not bring them was knowledge of the future. They could never be sure if the future would ever bring them any happiness. What frightened them most was the thought of going so far into the future that they would never be able to go back again. They would never be able to go back to the underground, to experience their greatest adventure, to relive the events that made them so happy, or so sad, or so angry, and all the emotions that made life worth living.

So, wasn't it better to just keep resetting? To keep reliving the past, because they were certain of how the past could play out, and therefore they could be certain that they would be happy? Wasn't this worth sacrificing a bleak, uncertain future for?

Perhaps this was the twentieth, fiftieth, or hundredth time that they had reset. They had stopped counting a while ago. Each time they reached the part of their adventure where all the monsters broke free from the underground and returned to the surface, they would feel happiness for them. Then, they would feel a nostalgic sadness for the past, because their adventure was over, and if they kept this timeline going, the past might just disappear forever. Sadness turned into anxiety, and anxiety turned into fear. It would reach a breaking point until they couldn't stand it any longer, and then they would reset it all the way back to the beginning, back to the moment that they fell into the underground and woke up on a bed of golden flowers.

When they reset this time, they had promised themselves: "this would be my last time." And they really meant it, just like all the past promises that they had made to themselves, promises that they would always break in the end. They were so weak-willed. But all they wanted was to be sure of things. Here, in the underground, they were safe – safe from anxiety, safe from despair, safe from a harsh, uncertain future. It was simply too hard to move on. The past was a better place to live in. They truly believed that.

But when Frisk opened their eyes, they saw something different.

They had expected a bed of flowers, a dark tunnel, a corridor up ahead that would lead to their first encounter with Flowey.

Instead, they found themselves standing atop a steel ledge that rose far above a vast industrialized cityscape. Massive grey towers stretched up all around them, and they realized that the ledge which they stood on was connected to a similarly high building behind them. Below, a huge crowd of people streamed across narrow streets weaving between the buildings. At a closer glance, they saw that the crowd included both humans and monsters.

Their eyes went wide. Humans and monsters, in the same crowd? How was this even possible? Wasn't this the underground?

They remained on this ledge, staring at the cityscape for several minutes, trying to process where they had just landed themselves into. The ceiling above them was completely dark, so they were still probably underground. But it didn't make any sense. The underground that they knew was empty and peaceful. With the exception of the area around Hotland and the Core, the underground definitely did not have busy cities with so many towering buildings. And, most importantly, the underground did not have any humans but themselves!

It was too strange. Something must have gone wrong. But, it was okay – they could fix it! They could just reset again. They'd just need to close their eyes and think about the precise moment in the past that they wanted to return to. By focusing on that moment, reality around them would disappear, time would wind back, and they would wake up again on a bed of flowers in the old underground, and Flowey and Toriel would be waiting for them, and everything would be back to normal. They had done it so many times before. There was no reason why it wouldn't now. It had to work!

Nothing happened.

Frisk's eyes flew open. They brushed bangs of long brown hair out of their eyes and stared below the ledge again. There were so many people, so many monsters! It was impossible for the underground to be like this. No, this wasn't the underground. This was someplace else. It was a nightmare. It was a world that they shouldn't be in. They had to escape from it.

"HUMAN!"

It was a familiar voice. Frisk spun around. They would recognize that voice anywhere.

"HUMAN! Please, step away from that dangerous ledge! If you fall, you will probably break most of the bones in your body. Without your bones, how can you expect to walk, or run, or eat, or breathe, or – no! Without your bones, you would not even be able to live!"

Frisk turned around and saw the tall skeleton with the signature red scarf. It was, of course, Papyrus. They could not have been happier to see an old friend. Quickly, they ran across the ledge and into the building. Even in this strange industrial underground, Papyrus was still around!

But Frisk had to be careful. Clearly, Papyrus did not recognize them, so they had to act as if this was their first meeting.

"Hello," Frisk said, waving at the tall, smiling skeleton. "I was a little scared back there. My name's Frisk. What's yours?"

"Wowie! You've already given me your name, even though I never asked for it? Perhaps it is to thank me for telling you the dangers of standing on top of high ledges! Human! I shall not disappoint! My name is The Great Papyr-"

"Who are you?"

Another familiar voice. Walking up behind Papyrus was a shorter, fatter skeleton wearing a dark blue hood. Sans stared at Frisk for a while, grinning, as he usually did.

"What are you doing here?" Sans asked. "Were you just standing on that ledge?"

"That's what I want to know!" Frisk said.

"Were you thinking of jumping?"

The smile on Frisk's face disappeared. They had not expected Sans to say something so dark all of a sudden.

"You should have," Sans said. "Because you didn't, now, we'll have to take you with us. You'd have been much less of a burden if you had just offed yourself right there."

The blood drained from Frisk's face.

"What...? Why are you talking like that?" Frisk asked, their voice trembling.

Sans turned around. "Since you're not going to jump, we're have to take you with us as a hostage. Don't try to escape. If you do, we'll kill you right away."

Frisk could not remember ever feeling so frightened. They knew that, in their adventure through the old underground, Sans had acted as a judge of sorts, making sure that they solved their disputes with monsters peacefully instead of resorting to violence. Only when Frisk helped every monster in the underground were they able to save everyone and break the barrier. But Sans had never been so outwardly aggressive, so hostile as to tell them that they ought to have jumped off a ledge to their death.

It was all so startling and confusing, and frustrating.

"Human! I know my brother can be a little too...grumpy, sometimes. Please forgive his rudeness! But come with us. My brother would never forgive you if you made him fail his mission!"

"Mission? What mission?"

"Keep quiet," Sans said. "You'll have to walk in front of us. Don't even think of running away."

Frisk lowered their head and walked in front of Sans. They did not know why, but they felt an extremely deadly power emanating from Sans, and they realized that they had better do as Sans asked. They did not want to find out the consequences of trying to escape.

They walked through the building, which was made almost completely of metal. A chrome-like smell filled the air. Up ahead, they began to hear a distinct and familiar resonating noise. They could not shake the feeling that they had heard something like that before, and yet they could not pin down where it was from or what it was. But when the building's tight hallways gave way to a series of wide intersecting bridges that hung above a bright white light, they recognized it immediately. It was the sound that the Core made.

"Is this the Core?" Frisk asked.

"A Core, yes," Sans replied. "The fourth one powering this city."

"There's more than one core?!"

Frisk felt a bony hand slap them on their shoulder.

"Are you trying to play dumb?" Sans growled. "The Underground is powered by dozens of Cores, all linked together through an extensive network of interconnected cables."

This was not what Frisk remembered at all. They remained silent. This Sans was so different. They wanted the old Sans back. A Sans that could laugh and joke, and sometimes make dark jokes, but was never so hostile like this.

They descended a long bridge when suddenly an alarm sounded. A moment later, a group of monsters rushed out of the corridor ahead and behind them. These were monsters that Frisk remembered from the old underground: big, mace-wielding knights, orb-throwing magicians, and the like. A pain shot through their heart as they realized how much they missed these monsters. Were they going to fight them? If so, they would talk to them about their problems, find out what they wanted, and make them feel happy!

Sans raised his hand. A blue fire burst out from his palm and wrapped around each of the monsters, incinerating them instantly. The dying screams of each monster echoed in Frisk's ears.

"Why did you do that?!" Frisk shrieked.

They felt a slap across the face.

"I can incinerate you, too, if you like," Sans said. "Didn't I tell you to keep quiet?"

The shock of being slapped by Sans made Frisk so angry that they did not even care any more.

"Why don't you kill me, then?" Frisk shouted back. "You clearly didn't care at all about the lives or feelings of those monsters that you just killed! If you're going to kill them, then you might as well kill me, too!"

"Sure. Whatever you say."

Frisk's body was wrapped in blue magic, and they were lifted up into the air and thrown over the edge.

Screaming, Frisk grabbed the floor of the bridge right before they were flung into the glowing white light below. Hanging over the edge, the desperation of their situation finally set in. This was not the old underground. This was some other world. Some cruel, hostile other underground that they could not survive in. It was a world that wanted them dead.

Was it punishment? Punishment for resetting so much, for wanting to remain in a happy past so that they would not have to face the uncertain future? Was this what they deserved – to have their old friends ripped away from them and replaced by terrible, uncaring clones that just wanted them dead?

"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted. "I am sorry that my brother had to do this! Unfortunately, you were standing in his way, and he probably lost his temper, which was why he decided to throw you over the edge!"

Frisk wanted to cry for help. Maybe Papyrus would still save them, but they were too full of sorrow to even try.

"We were probably going to kill you, anyways," Sans said, bending down and grinning.

Frisk could not keep their anger bottled up any longer.

"Why?! You weren't like this before!" Frisk did not care about keeping their knowledge of their identities secret anymore. "Sans! You were my friend! You weren't a killer! Don't you remember?"

"How do you know my name?"

Frisk shrieked as Sans crushed their fingers by stepping on them.

"Answer me!" Sans shouted.

"I know your name...because I was here before," Frisk managed to whisper through their pain. "I met you and your brother. I met everyone in the underground and befriended them! But...the underground...it wasn't like this. It wasn't like this at all!"

"You must be insane," Sans said.

"I'm telling the truth! This isn't who you are, Sans! You never tried to kill me! You never killed anyone! You were friends with all the monsters in Snowdin! You loved making puns!"

The light disappeared from Sans' eye sockets.

"I'm not sure what you're playing at here," Sans whispered. "But that is just about the wrongest description of me that I've heard."

Frisk screamed again as Sans pressed his feet harder into their fingers. They could feel their bones breaking.

"In case you don't know," Sans said, "I'm not exactly known around here as the nicest person. I'm a wanted monster. The only thing people have ever called me is, perhaps, 'terrorist'. And I'm going to live up to that name. You know what I'm here for? I'm here to destroy this Core. I'm going to blow it up real good."

"Why?! Why would you do that?"

"You still don't understand?" Sans laughed. "Let me spell it out clearly for you: because, my good human friend, if I destroy the Core, then lots of people are going to die!"

With a kick, Frisk was pushed off the ledge and fell into the white light below.

* * *

For some time, Frisk did not feel anything except perhaps a dream-like conglomeration of their thoughts and worries, all slowly melding together. They felt the world fading away, then drawing them in, then fading again, like the waves on an ocean shore. They wanted to reach out for the world, to grasp it, to hold on to something solid, so that their thoughts could stabilize and they would stop floating in this endless dream-like fluid. When the moment finally came, they felt themselves grasping a hand.

They looked up and saw the face of another human, with pretty red eyes.


	2. Chara

Frisk could not remember the last time that they had seen another human being. They had escaped from the world of humans by going on a journey which eventually landed them on Mt. Ebott. Since falling into the underground, they had not truly left the underground, as they would reset back to the beginning of their adventure every time the monsters returned to the surface. They knew that this was cruel – that, by resetting, they were preventing all their friends from experiencing their future lives. Perhaps, by doing this, they had made themselves the worst person of them all, and it was all for their own fear of not being able to find their own happiness.

The human that was staring at Frisk had red eyes and dark brown hair about the same length as their own and wore a green sweater with a single yellow stripe across it. Frisk had not seen many humans with red eyes before, but they had always found red eyes to be pretty. It was too bad that this sentiment was not shared by most other humans. People with red eyes were often feared and shunned for being too different.

"Your hand is completely mangled," the red-eyed human said, pointing at the hand that Sans had crushed with their foot. "If you do not find someone to heal that hand, you will probably end up losing it."

It was strange that this was the first thing the human was saying to them. Frisk had not even introduced themselves yet, or explained how they ended up here. Not that they could. All they remembered after being kicked off the bridge was falling into a bright white light before waking up and finding this red-eyed human. The memory of that encounter with Sans was painful just to think about. They were still so confused.

When Frisk tried to move their hand, they yelped in pain. The red-eyed human grabbed their wrist.

"That was stupid. Do not move your hand while it is so injured," the human said. "Can you keep still, absolutely still? If not, then you are going to be extremely troublesome."

In response, Frisk giggled. They could not help but laugh at this human's overly formal speech and tone.

"What is so funny?"

Frisk yelped again as their arm was yanked up by the other human. Keeping their hand up, Frisk carefully got back onto their feet. They felt a little bit shaky, but aside from their hand, nothing else in their body seemed to be broken.

"You talk kind of funny," Frisk said.

"How I talk has nothing to do with your situation. Now, I have some questions for you. Why are you here?"

"I don't know, to be honest."

'That does not make any sense."

"Well, I was in the Core, and I, ummm, accidentally fell off the bridge and landed in the big white light. Then I woke up in this room beside you."

"This room is my house."

Frisk was surprised that this room, though large and spacious, could be someone's house. The walls were dilapidated and full of cracks, with only a single dust-covered window. A counter to their left looked like an old coal stove. Beside the stove was a wooden cupboard. There was a low sitting table, a drawer, and a sleeping mat at the other corner of the room. A chandelier bearing four light bulbs provided the room with a dim yellow light.

"I was outside a moment ago and I saw a flash of white light. When I walked in, you were lying on the floor, unconscious," the human continued. "I had thought you were an intruder, but you do not look the type."

Frisk giggled. "Really? That's nice of you to say."

The human suddenly took out a knife – from where, Frisk did not even have time to see – and held it to Frisk's throat.

"Do not joke around with me," the human said, narrowing their red eyes. "I find your story about being in the Core to be rather hard to believe."

"I'm telling the truth!"

The human pressed the knife into Frisk's neck, drawing out blood. Frisk felt panic beginning to settle in.

"Really? Then, tell me. What were you doing in the Core? And which Core was it?"

"The...the fourth one, I think."

"How interesting. There was an incident at the fourth Core yesterday. An act of terrorism, to be specific. Someone sneaked into the place and used powerful magic to blow up the Core's energy generator. The resulting explosion flattened a good portion of the city, resulting in hundreds of dead humans and monsters and thousands of casualties."

Frisk went pale and gulped. So, what had happened the other day between them and Sans was real. Sans really did mean to kick them off the bridge and blow up the Core.

"This...this isn't right," Frisk said in a choked voice. "This shouldn't be happening! Tell me, where am I? Is this the Underground? What's going on in here?"

The red-eyed human finally backed off, a look of bewilderment coming over their face.

"Of course this is the underground. Where else did you think it was?"

"But why?! The underground wasn't like this before! It was more...quiet...and peaceful...and, and-"

Cold steel was pressed against Frisk's neck once more.

"I will be frank. I think you are delusional. Or, perhaps, you have amnesia. You are talking nonsense."

Frisk wanted to cry. "I'm telling the truth! I was in the fourth Core when it happened! I was with...two people, and...I thought they were my friends, but one of them threw me off the bridge!"

"Then why are you alive? And, more importantly, why are you here?"

Frisk wanted to say that they really didn't know anything, but reflexively moved their broken hand and yelped in pain. They stumbled backwards and nearly crashed to the floor, but a firm hand grabbed their other arm and lifted them up.

"Forget it," the red-eyed human said, returning their knife into their pocket. "You are far too clueless to be of any danger to me. Furthermore, if you do not get that hand treated, it is going to kill you."

"...Thanks?" Frisk said, surprised at the human's sudden kindness.

The red-eyed human glared at them. "Do not mistake my refusal to kill you as kindness. I think you may have amnesia, or some other problem with your head. I am leaving you alive only because I do not have any idea who you are."

"Still, thank you."

"Be quiet. By showing up in my house, uninvited and clueless, you are making yourself a big nuisance, especially with that broken hand."

"I don't know what to do."

"First of all, that hand needs to be treated."

Frisk watched as the red-eyed human went to the back of the room to search through their closet before returning with a bottle of red liquid.

"I do not have anything that can mend your hand," they said. "So, for now, I will be giving you this medicine. It is an analgesic and will numb your pain. After, I will be taking you to someone who can help you."

"Thank you so much."

Frisk's gratitude transformed quickly into horror when the human took out a syringe and poured the red medicine into it.

"Wait!"

"Hold up your hand. I am going to inject the medicine directly into your bloodstream."

"But, that's going to hurt, isn't it?"

The look on the human's face made it clear that they had no patience left. Frisk tried to raise their mangled hand, but shouted in pain. Sighing, the human grabbed Frisk's wrist by themselves before inserting the needle into their skin. A jolt of sharp pain went through Frisk's hand, but they kept themselves from screaming again. Instead, they stared into the human's red eyes, which were focused on the syringe as it was emptied of the red liquid. Those eyes were so pretty.

"By the way," Frisk said in a shaky voice, "My name is Frisk."

The other human remained silent until they pulled out the needle.

"I am Chara."

"That's a nice name."

Chara ignored Frisk's comment and put the syringe and medicine back into the closet. Frisk felt the medicine work immediately, and their hand became so numb that they could not even feel it anymore. As a result, their arm just sort of sunk to their side as they could barely move it.

"I will be taking you out now to a place where you can get your hand healed," Chara said.

"Really? Chara, thank you so much!"

"Your excessive thanking is getting on my nerves."

'It's just that, well, I didn't expect you to help me, that's all."

"I must remind you again to not mistake my help for kindness. You are still being a burden to me right now. I am only helping you to get you out of my life as quickly as possible. Do not expect any more."

Frisk looked away.

They walked out of the house together, arriving onto a dirty street that was filled with houses as small and crumbling as Chara's. As they walked down the street, Frisk began to see a resemblance between this place and the Ruins. A lot of the architecture looked the same, and the walls had a faded purple colour. Large oak trees grew along the street. Most of them were bare, and the floor was covered in crumpled brown and orange leaves.

This place, Frisk realized, was what the ruins looked like if people had settled into the Ruins again.

"If you don't mind," Frisk began in a small voice, "can you tell me a bit about the history of this place?"

Chara looked at them weirdly. "What is there to talk about?"

"Just...you know. How this place came to be. Why people settled here."

"You do not know even that?"

"I...don't. Sorry. I think I do have amnesia."

Chara sighed and began walking faster, forcing Frisk to catch up to their pace.

"Chara?"

"Tell me what you do know. Start from the very beginning," Chara replied, "so I don't need to fill in unnecessary details for you."

"Well...if we go back to the VERY beginning...then, ummm, long ago, there was a war between humans and monsters, and all the monsters were driven underground. Then, the humans put up a barrier to prevent monsters from coming out, and only the combined power of seven human souls was enough to break down the barrier, right?"

Chara slowed their pace and stared at Frisk incredulously.

"...Am I wrong?" Frisk asked.

"You do have amnesia, it seems," Chara said. "A horrible case of it, in fact. I have never met anyone as confused about things as you."

Frisk lowered their head, again. "Then...what did happened?"

"There WAS a war between humans and monsters. It happened a thousand years ago." Chara looked up at the dark ceiling hanging above them as they spoke. "The war was so terrible that it completely ravaged the surface, rendering it inhabitable. So, the remnants of humanity and monsters retreated underground in order to survive. They realized that they could not have another war so destructive, so they made peace with each other. We have all been living underground ever since."

Frisk remained silent. It was now beyond a shadow of a doubt. This was a different underground, a completely different world than the underground that they knew and loved.

And, somehow, their persistent resetting had landed them in this world.

"I see," Frisk said at last.

"I am not sure where you thought up of all that nonsense above humans imprisoning monsters underground with a barrier. Perhaps that would have made sense a thousand years ago, when war divided us and made us hell bent on killing each other. Now, however – it is unthinkable."

Unthinkable? Then why did Sans blow up the Core and kill so many people?

"...Ignore that," Frisk said. "Like I said, I probably have amnesia."

After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived in front of a large house that Frisk recognized immediately. Their heart began pounding as Chara walked up to the front door and opened it with a key. They almost rushed into the house to confirm that the person inside was who they thought she was.

It was Toriel!

Frisk had to keep themselves from running up to her and hugging her. They kept themselves composed, but could not hide the smile that was slowly creeping over their lips. Toriel was sitting on a familiarly large chair, reading a book about snails. The house looked quite a bit smaller than they remembered it.

"Mother," Chara said, walking towards Toriel. "I have brought a guest who is in need of some help with a broken hand."

"Oh?"

Toriel stood up and walked over to see Frisk's hand.

"My dear child," she said. "How did your hand ever get in such a bad shape? Do not worry. I will heal you with my magic."

"Thank you, T-I mean, ummm, Chara's mother," Frisk said.

"Please, call me Toriel."

Frisk glanced nervously back and forth between Chara and Toriel, hoping that neither of them had caught that slip of their tongue. Fortunately, it did not seem that either of them did.

"Okay. Thank you, Toriel. My name is Frisk."

"What a nice name!"

While Toriel set to work healing Frisk's hand, Chara went to the kitchen and began making some yellow flower tea. They returned fifteen minutes later with cups for the three of them.

"Toriel is my foster mother," Chara said. "She took me in when I was a child."

Frisk remembered how, in that other underground, Toriel had adopted many children before them, only to lose them all as they each went out beyond the ruins to attempt to escape the underground. In a strange, perhaps happy way, things were still the same in this world. Toriel still adopted a child, and this time, she was able to keep them.

"I have amnesia," Frisk blurted out. "So...ummm, I kind of don't know about anything around here."

"Oh dear, oh dear," Toriel said. "I am glad that Chara found you, especially with your hand in such a bad shape. I cannot imagine what would have happened otherwise."

"It's okay," Frisk said. "But...umm, if you don't mind, can you fill me in a bit about this world?"

Toriel looked at Frisk kindly. "What would you like to know?"

"Just...everything, I guess. Nothing looks familiar to me."

"All you need to know is that things have not been going well lately," Chara said. There was an angry gleam in their eyes. "Most of the underground has turned into a slum. All of the available land has turned into a city or part of a city. Our population has kept increasing, and there is overpopulation everywhere. The only people living a good life is the royal family."

"The...royal family?"

Chara's tone became venemous. "Yes. While the rest of us toil away our days in these dark, crowded slums, the royal family live a life of luxury in their tower far above the Hotland plateau."

"What are their names?"

"The greedy King Asgore, and the cruel Prince Asriel. As for their queen, she fled the family several years ago, and no one has seen her since."

Frisk looked up at Toriel, noticing a sad look in her eyes.

"Frisk. Since you say that you do not know anything, do you think I can trust you with a secret?" Toriel asked.

Frisk nodded.

"Mother, please, do not say it," Chara said. "Frisk is a stranger – a clueless one, I must admit, but still not a person whom I would trust with a secret."

"It is all right, Chara," Toriel said. "I feel that Frisk has a gentle nature. If they do not remember who they are, and has no home to return to, then I would like to adopt them."

Although Frisk had always chosen to fight Toriel before, they felt that things this time were too different. The circumstances were impossible to compare. They did not mind being adopted by Toriel at all.

"Thank you...Toriel. I mean, should I say, mother?" Frisk said.

"Oh, my! Calling me mother, already? Well then, I guess it is settled. I shall adopt you, Frisk, and I will reveal to you my most important secret."

"I promise I won't tell anybody."

Chara folded their arms and turned away, frowning.

"I was the former queen," Toriel whispered. "I could not stand living in such excess at the tower while, all around me, the people were suffering. It may seem selfish, but I abandoned the king and my son so that I could live in meagre peace out here. I have kept my identity hidden since."

Internally, Frisk smiled.

No matter the world, some things still tended to remain the same.


	3. The Ruins

In the "evening", the administrators of the underground's cities lowered the intensity of the artificial lights on the city streets to mimic the effect of the Sun setting and of day turning into night. If what Chara had said was true, then humanity and monsters alike had not lived on the surface for a thousand years. Perhaps some of the older monsters still remembered what it had been like to see a real sunrise and a real sunset. But the generation of humans that had lived on the surface were long gone by now.

Frisk realized that they were the last human in this underground who had ever been on the surface.

"I had not expected this turn of events," Chara said, standing by a window and gazing out at the darkening streets outside. "How could I have known, when I woke up today, that a new human being would be adopted in my family?"

"Do not be jealous, my child," Toriel said from the kitchen, where she was brewing some soup for dinner.

"I am not jealous," Chara replied. "I am worried about the implications of having an extra mouth to feed. An extra burden."

"Please, stop saying that," Toriel said.

Frisk was sitting in the living room. Unlike Chara's house, which was dark and rather empty, Toriel's living room was like a library. They had spent the day browsing the shelves, looking for books to read that weren't about snail recipes or just snails in general. Fortunately, since Chara lived with Toriel, there was a section on a shelf filled with all sorts of interesting novels suited to a teenager's tastes. Frisk had picked up a book about the Blue Uprising of the year 583 (which was 583 years after everyone retreated into the underground), when a group of humans had tried to overthrow the royal family.

The uprising had failed, of course. Soon after, Asgore added an extra title to his name. Now, he was Asgore, King of Monsters, "Emperor of the Underground".

"I won't be a burden," Frisk said. "If there's work that needs to be done, I can do it."

Chara stared at Frisk harshly. "For the whole day, you have been sitting in that chair. You could have at least helped mother with her cooking."

"Chara, please," Toriel said again from the kitchen. "I can handle the cooking by myself. If I am to be honest, I fairly like cooking."

"I can learn," Frisk insisted. "Mother, teach me how to cook! I'll make a couple of meals for you and Chara sometime."

"Thank you, Frisk, but you should be resting right now. Although I have healed your hand, it will take some time for your bones to mend completely."

"Still, while you have that broken hand, you are going to be effectively useless," Chara said. "I am not sure where you come from, Frisk, or what kind of life you lived before ending up here, but down in these ruins, people who do not work do not get to eat. That means, if you do not work, you do not get to live."

"Chara, my child, is it really necessary for you to scare Frisk like that so soon?"

"Mother. I am simply telling them the truth. If I may be blunt, Frisk does not look like someone who grew up around here. They do not look like they have experienced any true hardship."

Something about the way that Chara said that made Frisk feel angry.

"Chara, I have experienced plenty of hardship," Frisk said. It was true. Even if they ignored surviving their encounters with all the monsters that had tried to kill them in the old underground, they had still encountered plenty of trouble on their journey before they came to Mt. Ebott. It was hard, so hard, to keep all thoughts of their past bottled up inside and to have to pretend to be an amnesiac so that they could get along more easily with Chara and Toriel.

"You look like you have lived a well-cushioned life," Chara retorted.

"That's because, unlike you, I haven't become jaded from my hardships, and I don't try to put down others because of it!"

There was silence in the room. Frisk decided to continue.

"If you become jaded because of every little bad thing that happens to you, then you will never move on from it," they said in a softer voice. "Rather, I try to learn from those experiences, to carry on knowing that I was strong enough to overcome them, to smile in spite of adversity."

Chara burst out laughing. They dashed forward and grabbed Frisk by their sweater, lifting them up from their seat.

"So, you think you can insult me and lecture me just because mother decided to adopt you," Chara said, their voice seething with malice. "It's clear to me that you have NOT lived the type of life that I have, that you have gone through the same type of hardships."

"Chara, put me down-"

"If you keep up this insolent attitude, I will have to show you your place in this family. Do not forget how I helped you when you woke up in my house with an injured hand, crying in pain and speaking nonsense. I could have left you there to die."

"Enough!"

Toriel walked into the room carrying a large pot of soup in her hands. "Chara, put Frisk down immediately. We are going to have a nice family dinner, free of petty arguments."

Frisk was dropped onto their feet and Chara stomped over to the table to eat. Quietly, Frisk went to the table as well. The soup smelled delicious. They did not know what ingredients were in it – hopefully, not snails – but they grabbed a bowl and a spoon and started helping themselves to it right away. They were famished.

Throughout dinner, Frisk glanced occasionally at Chara, who would always return with a venemous look.

"How do you like the soup, Frisk?" Toriel asked.

"It's really good, mom. I haven't had anything so tasty in a while."

"Oh, my, you poor child. I cannot imagine what you must have gone through before you came to our house today."

Chara put down their spoon and leaned back into their chair. "Mother. I understand that you are trying to be kind to Frisk, and I appreciate it. However, we must consider the reality of our situation. Our finances are strained enough now as they are. We simply cannot afford to feed a third mouth."

Toriel shot Chara an angry glare, but her look softened.

"My child, you are always thinking so hard about our money. Just for a day, could you maybe give it a rest?"

"A day could be the difference between life and death! Consider, mother, what would happen if you failed to pay your rent by a day, or if you went a day without eating any food. Do you want this to happen to us?"

"Chara, we still have adequate money to-"

"Actually, mother, there is no need to consider that. I am sure you know the reality of things. Frisk is the one who is completely clueless. After dinner, I will take them on a walk outside and show them how life is like around here. They should understand, then."

Frisk shrank into their seat. They were surprised to find that Toriel was not propping them up, as she had always done before now. Instead, Toriel just stared down at her bowl with a sad, though still smiling, expression.

"I...I'll find some way to make money," Frisk whispered. "It's the least I can do to thank you both for helping me."

"You had better try," Chara said, looking away. "There is no money to be made in these ruins. This place is a dead end."

"What do you mean?"

"I will show you soon."

After dinner, Chara took Frisk outside onto the dark streets. The "night" air felt a bit chillier than during the "day", though Frisk could not tell if it was actually colder or if the diminished lighting had the effect of making them feel this way. There were not many people outside right now. In the distance, there was a cluster of bright yellow lights, and a large amount of noise came from there. Chara began heading in that direction.

"Where are we going?" Frisk asked.

"I am walking you through the city, so that you can see the conditions of people living here," Chara said. "Then, I am going to visit a friend."

As they approached the lighted area, Frisk began to see other human beings. Nearly all of them looked thin and malnourished. Many slept out on the streets, wearing only rags. Some were covered by a dirty blanket that they could smell from several feet away. Others begged for money or food as they passed by. A few looked terribly sick or drunk and were lying on the floor, passed out, their heads surrounded by drool and even vomit.

Frisk was not deterred. They had seen this before on their own journey through the cities of the world that they had come from. Frisk had always pitied the homeless and tried to help them out whenever they could. So, naturally, they had wanted to help these people as well. The only problem was that they had no money on them. They thought that the next best thing that they could do was to talk to them, and so they approached a homeless girl lying by a building, wearing a torn dress.

Chara grabbed their hand.

"What do you think you are doing, Frisk?"

"I want to talk to her."

The look on Chara's face became so horrifying that Frisk nearly cowered.

"Are you an imbecile?!"

"She looks so hungr-"

"And what do you think you can achieve by talking to her?" Chara shouted. "Do you honestly believe that words could make her feel better? Are you not scared that she could be a trap set up by someone else, someone who is exploiting her, using her as a tool to acquire people's sympathy so that she could scam them out of their money? Or, worse, that she might have a weapon and will assault you as soon as you get close?"

Frisk turned away. They had not considered any of that, even though they knew that it could happen. All they saw was a starving girl with no home, and they had thought that even if they could not give her any food or money, she would still have appreciated their company.

"Are...are people here really like that?" Frisk asked.

"If you do not even know that, then you really are a clueless imbecile," Chara said.

"I'm sorry."

"Do you think I care about your apology? I would rather get rid of you. If mother had not adopted you, I could not care less what happened to you."

Frisk had nothing more to say, and remained silent.

As they passed through the city, Frisk saw everything that Chara had mentioned, and worse. Two homeless men were brawling with each other over a spot on the street that they had each laid claim to. A group of human and monster children were performing a street show, but none of them had happy faces, and each looked fearfully at a man standing in the corner, carefully watching them. Later, as they passed through a market, they saw a man steal a piece of bread and eat it as if it was the best thing he had ever tasted. Then, they passed by an alley, where they saw a group of monsters kicking a man who was lying on the floor, laughing every time the man screamed in pain.

This, Frisk realized, was an alien world. An underground so unlike the old underground that words failed to describe the magnitude of difference between them.

Eventually, they arrived at the entrance of a tea cafe. Chara pushed the door open and Frisk followed after them inside.

"This is where I work on week days," Chara said. "I barely make enough money to cover rent and food for mother and myself."

Standing behind the counter was a familiar looking cat monster standing in a comically awkward pose. When he talked, he made a large, expressive face.

"Hi, Chara! Who's that little buddy you brought with you?"

It was Burgerpants. But what was he called in this world?

"This is not my 'little buddy', BP."

"BP?" Frisk spoke up as they sat down beside Chara at the counter. "That's his name?"

'That's the name of this place, little buddy," Burgerpants replied. "BP's Cafe. BP stands for...ummm, I don't know. Honestly. But since I serve everyone here, that's what everyone calls me."

Frisk was starting to wonder if there were more connections between this world and the old one than they had previously thought.

Chara ordered a green tea latte, but Frisk just asked for a glass of water.

"I would like to introduce you to Frisk," Chara said suddenly.

"Ummm...nice to meet you, BP," Frisk said, rubbing the back of their head.

"Nice to see you too, little buddy."

"Frisk is my new sibling," Chara said, surprising Frisk. "My mother adopted them. Unfortunately, I am not making enough money by myself to support both Frisk and mother. So, I am asking you to do me a huge favour: please, give Frisk a job here."

Frisk stared at Chara, stunned.

Burgerpants, or "BP", scrutinized Frisk for a while. Somehow, Frisk found the situation a little ironic. Whereas the Burgerpants of the old underground hated his job, this Burgerpants was successful enough to own his very own cafe, and apparently was Chara's employer!

"Your mother just adopted them?" BP asked.

Chara nodded.

"Where do you come from, Frisk?"

Frisk gulped.

"I...I don't know," Frisk replied. "I just-"

"Frisk has amnesia," Chara said. "They do not remember anything about their life before they came to me and mother for help."

"Well...profits have been kind of rough lately, especially with the new taxation policies Prince Asriel enacted," BP replied. "I don't know if I have enough money to hire another person."

"I see." Chara looked up at BP, and for the first time, their expression changed. They no longer looked so harsh, and they spoke with a pleading tone:

"But, please, can you find some way for Frisk to work? You will be helping mother and I tremendously by hiring Frisk."

"I don't know...I'll have to think about it," BP said simply.

"Is there anything that Frisk could do? Cleaning the tables, perhaps? Greeting and saying goodbye to customers? Moping the toilets?"

"Like I said, I'll think about it."

Frisk did not want to look at Chara. They realized, now, how much of a burden they were being to Chara and Toriel. For once, they thought that Chara was right, that Toriel may have made a mistake in adopting another child. It made them feel so ashamed of themselves. Ashamed, and also...grateful.

Grateful to Chara for doing everything to make sure Frisk could survive.

"Thank you, BP."

Chara took a sip from their latte.


	4. Afraid

"You missed a speck of dust in this spot! Get over here and wipe it! Put some effort into your work!"

Frisk stopped mopping the floor and rushed over to the table that Chara was pointing at with a hand cloth. On its smooth, clean, recently-wiped surface was a single speck of dust that they had somehow missed. Hastily, Frisk tried to wipe it away, but ended up only flinging the speck of dust up into the air, where it flew for a few seconds around the room before landing back onto the floor that Frisk had just mopped.

Burgerpants had agreed to hire Frisk as a floor and table cleaner, toilet mopper, and customer greeter, but they would be paid only half the salary that Chara received. Nevertheless, Frisk took the job, and their hours were the same as Chara's. This, unfortunately, made them the target of Chara's endless berating, who demanded nothing less than perfect work from Frisk.

"Can you not do anything right?" Chara said as they watched Frisk re-mop the floor. "By the way, a customer is about to come in! Stand up straight, smile, and give them the best greeting they have ever received!"

Frisk nearly dropped their mop. They did as Chara asked and stared down the customer like a statue as they came in...which made the customer return a weird look.

"Good day! Welcome to BP's cafe! How may I help you?"

"I...I just want a latte," the customer said, clearly put off by Frisk's gigantic smile.

"All right! One latte coming right up!"

Chara guided the customer to the counter while Frisk immediately went back to cleaning the floor and tables.

Work was tiring, but Frisk did not want to spend all day lying in Toriel's house being nothing more than a burden. Chara's thinking was beginning to rub off on them. After seeing the poverty of the people living in the ruins, Frisk had begun to realize just how desperate most people were to survive. Without income, there were no means for them to get food or rent. This was no different than the world of humans that Frisk had come from. They had gone on a journey away from civilization precisely to avoid this type of life. How ironic it was to end up exactly where they had started!

When lunch break came, Frisk grabbed a sandwich and a cup of golden flower tea before sitting down beside Chara, who was reading a newspaper by the counter.

"The terrorist that blew up Core Four has apparently been sighted in the Ruins," Chara read out loud from a headline. "All citizens are advised to stay home once day lights go out."

"A lot of people don't even have homes to go to," Frisk said.

"Too bad for them. Fortunately, there is no Core here for that terrorist to blow up."

"Really? Then where do we get our power from?"

Chara looked at Frisk impatiently. "The nearest Core is Core Two, which is built in the lower Snowdin Valley. We get all our power from there. If the terrorist blows up that core, all the lights here are going to go out."

"Then...it'll be completely dark?"

"No. The Ruins has some backup energy generators, though if they're made to power the entire city, most won't last for longer than an hour. However, we also have lots of street torches, which can be powered with fire magic. So, we'll most likely be all right."

Frisk could not help but wonder what was going on in Sans' mind. What could make such a jovial skeleton like him want to go around, blowing up Cores and killing hundreds of people? And how did Papyrus end up tagging along with him?

Somehow, though, Frisk was becoming less and less surprised. So many things in this world were completely different from the way that they were in the old underground. They could not expect anyone to be the same person that they knew, not even their old friends. It was scary to think about how the others, like Undyne or Alphys, could have changed as well.

"The imperial prince will be sending in a regiment to the Ruins to search for the terrorist," Chara continued reading aloud.

"When?"

"It does not say. However, that is worrying to hear about. If they go around barging into houses they might end up finding about mother."

"Then we have to hide her!"

"I agree. However, they probably will not come today. It would take several days, especially for a regiment, to go from Hotland to the Ruins."

Frisk thought about how they had travelled in the old underground. A certain hooded River Person, who travelled on a running canoe through a long water passageway, was able to bring them from one zone to another within just a few hours.

"Aren't there faster ways for them to get around?"

"Not any that I know of."

After Chara had finished reading the papers, Frisk took them and began reading the news by themselves. They learned that Core Four was located in a city that had been built on the border between Waterfall and Hotland and was heavily populated. When the explosion happened, half of the city went up in flames and all power went out completely. Two imperial regiments were sent to the city to put out the flames and restore power by redirecting their energy source to Core Five, located in the heart of Hotland. Security was tightened up heavily around that Core, and an all-out hunt for the terrorist had been initiated.

As for Core Four, the damage was so severe that a construction team had already been sent to demolish the place completely in order for a new Core to be built, a project that would take three years. In the meantime, energy usage limits have been established in the city originally powered by Core Four, since they now share the power from Core Five. At least three online gaming cafes, four midnight dance bars, and five theatres have been shut down, their energy usage deemed too high...and too useless.

In another section of the news, an organization called the "Prophetic Faith" had sent out their priests to the people of the city of Core Four to deliver their blessings and to help bury the dead.

"What's this?" Frisk asked Chara, pointing to the organization's name.

"The Prophetic Faith? It's the religion that was started fifty years ago by an old turtle named Gerson. They believe in some prophecy that an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring everyone freedom, meaning that we will be able to leave the underground and return to the surface for the first time in a thousand years."

"Really?"

Chara laughed. "If you ask me, though, that prophecy is nothing more than a pipe dream. There is no such thing as an angel, especially not one who comes from the surface. The surface is dead."

Frisk returned to the paper. The section on the Prophetic Faith didn't look all that bad. There was a picture of Gerson there, as old as Frisk remembered him. Gerson was smiling and tending to a wounded human child whose skin had been burned by the explosion from Core Four.

"What does the Prophetic Faith do?"

"They advertise themselves as a charitable organization, delivering food and aid to those in need," Chara replied. "However, I hear that what they are mainly looking for is converts. Also, take a look there."

Chara pointed outside to the streets.

"Why are they not coming here and delivering aid to the Ruins?" Chara said. "If they were truly impartial in their charity, they would not be helping only the people close to them. The headquarters of the Prophetic Faith is in Waterfall, and that is where most of their aid gets sent. Meanwhile, everyone here gets completely neglected, as they have always been."

Again, Chara laughed. "Next thing you know, they will be saying that their 'Angel' is only going to save those who have converted."

* * *

Having finished their first day of work, Frisk returned to Toriel's home, tired and sore. Their hand still hurt a little, but it was getting better. Toriel had dinner prepared for them as soon as they came through the door. Frisk was hungry and ate everything.

"So as to not bother you, I will be heading home now," Chara said after helping to wash the dishes.

"Wait! Chara, why don't you stay here tonight?" Frisk asked.

Chara gave Frisk an annoyed look. "What good would I do by staying here?"

"I don't know, but...I think, maybe, mom misses you. Don't you think you could keep her company for a little longer?"

"My child, you are so considerate," Toriel said to Frisk.

"There is barely enough space on the floor for you to sleep beside mother," Chara said. "I will be doing both of you a favour by leaving."

"No, you won't," Frisk said. "I...we like having you around, Chara."

"I am going to leave and that is final."

"Then I'm heading with you!"

Chara stared at Frisk with a blank expression.

"I...I want to talk to you more," Frisk whispered. "As you know, I'm quite clueless about things, because I don't remember anything, so...I want to learn more. From you."

"You can learn by talking to mother."

"Oh, Chara, please," Toriel spoke up. "Frisk is your age, and I think they want to make friends with you."

Frisk blushed.

"I thought you were afraid mother was going to be lonely," Chara said. "Would you not make her lonelier by leaving her?"

"Well, I mean-"

"Do not worry, my child," Toriel interrupted Frisk. "I would rather you spend time with Chara than with me."

Chara sighed resignedly. "Fine. You can come sleep at my house tonight. But, bring your own mat, unless you want to sleep on the cold, hard floor!"

Nodding, Frisk rolled up the mat that Toriel had given them and went out with Chara. They walked over to the house that they had been at yesterday. As soon as Chara went into their room, they plopped down onto their mattress and turned their head away from Frisk.

Frisk felt a little rejected.

"Come on, Chara. Isn't it a bit too early to sleep?"

"I have had a tiring day."

"You don't sound tired." A sly smile came over Frisk's lips. "Come on. I may be clueless, but that doesn't mean I can't read people's intentions."

"What are you saying?"

"You know exactly what I mean. You're just pretending to go to sleep so that you don't have to talk to me!"

Chara turned over and stared at Frisk, a frustrated gleam in their eyes. "You are so annoying."

"You're being annoying, too! All I want to do is talk to you and get to know you better!"

As Frisk sat down onto their mat, Chara sat up.

"So selfish," Chara said. "You think that everyone wants to be your friend. You think everyone has to be nice to you. Almost like you think everyone, somehow, deserves to be your friend!"

"Why can't I at least try to be your friend?!" Frisk shouted back.

"You know what? Stop trying! I am in no mood for making friends right now."

"It looks to me like you're never in the mood! You've never even TRIED to open up to me. You've never even said a single nice thing to me! How do you think I feel, being rejected by you every time? Don't you know how much it hurts me?"

"Now you expect me to say nice things to you? Sometimes, Frisk, there is absolutely NOTHING nice for me to say about you!"

"Chara! You're terrible!"

For a brief moment, Frisk saw something flash in Chara's eyes. A hint of doubt. Hesitation. It disappeared quickly, and Chara turned their eyes away. They lay back down onto their bed, silent.

Tears started welling up in Frisk's eyes.

"You don't know how lonely I've felt since I got here," Frisk said in a softer voice. "But...even so, "I'm sorry, Chara. You've done a lot for me. I probably shouldn't have said that."

Chara stared up at the ceiling and placed their hands behind their head.

"Frisk," Chara said. "You reminded me of something."

"Huh?"

"I think, once, long ago, mother said the same thing to me. It was just after mother found me wandering alone in the Ruins. I was sick and starving. She gave me food, offered me shelter in her home, even offered to adopt me. Yet, I...I was afraid of her. Or, rather, I was afraid of getting close to her...afraid that, if I did, I might lose her."

Frisk wiped away tears from their eyes. "But you let her adopt you in the end."

"No. It was not that simple. I..."

Chara turned towards Frisk again. Their pretty red eyes looked a little wet.

"I told her to go away. I told mother to leave me alone. I told her that if she went along helping every starving child that she saw on the streets, she would have no money or food left to take care of herself. Looking at myself in that light, I thought that I did not deserve her kindness. Why, out of every person that she could have helped, did she choose to help me?" Chara closed their eyes. "I was so selfish. I did not realize that she loved me, and that she would do anything to make me happy. I pushed her away because I was afraid of her love. I pushed her away until, one day, she told me...what a terrible person I am."

"And yet...even after telling me that, even after saying that I was terrible, mother did not let me go," Chara said. "She still kept me. She still wanted to adopt me. That was...that was when I realized what it meant to be loved."

Frisk stayed quiet.

"I apologize, Frisk," Chara said. "I apologize for being so harsh and callous towards you."

"I forgive you," Frisk said. "And I'm sorry, too, for saying that you're a terrible person."

"No, it really was my fault."

"Still, I really shouldn't have said that."

"Apology accepted, then."

Chara closed their eyes. "From now on, I accept you as part of my family. That means...that means, we have to stay together, and help each other out, all right?"

"Of course! I'll always stay with you!"

"Thank you, Frisk."

For the first time, Chara smiled genuinely.


End file.
